Process and apparatus for applying deodorizing and disinfecting powder to sanitary pads



May 22, 1928. 1,670,587 E. MAHLER PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYINGDEODORIZING AND DISINFECTING POWDER TO SANITARY PADS Filed Aug. 6, 19244 Sheets-Sheet l May 22, 192& 1,670,587

E. MAHLER PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING DEODORIZING ANDDISINFECTING POWDER TO SANITARY PADS Filed Aug. 6, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 2TREATED ZONE May 22, 1928., 1,670,587

. E. MAHLER PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING DEODORIZING ANDDISINFECTING POWDER TO SANITARY PADS Filed g- 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 5' .11we (10/ v 27 W M (ML May 22, 1928. a 1,670,587

E. MAHLER PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING DEODORIZING ANDDISINFECTING POWDER TO SANITARY PADS Filed Aug. 6, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Patented May 22, 1928;.

ERNST MAHLER, F NEENAH, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNQR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, 1'0

INTERNATIONAL CELLUCOTTON PRODUCTS 00., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORA-TION OF DELAW.

PnocEss AND APPAnA'rUs FOR APPLYING DEODORIZING AND msrnrncrme POWDER TOSANITARY PAns. 1

Application filed August 6, 1924. Serig l Itiilf730,401.

This invention relates to improvements in process and apparatus for aplying deodorizin and disinfecting pow er to samany material or agent bywhich the desired" deodorizing or disinfecting efifect is secured.

Among 1ts principal "objects are to provide an improved method andapparatus for trsatin absorbent pads to enable the chemica to the pad,to permit the chemical to be distributed over localizedareas of thelayers, and in general to provide an economical-and efiicient apparatusand process for distributin'g-said chemical. p

The particular application. of my. invention which I shall describezindetail forms a step in the manufacture of wood-pulp fillers for sanitarynapkins. These fillers are made of several plies .or sheets ofthin crepepaper which is madeon the usual paper making machines and'then woundup-' on a large revoluble 'drum' According to 2 the preferred practice,a'hopper containing a supply of the deodorant or disinfectant in powderform is equipped with means for applying this powder to theperiphery ofa transfer drum located therebeneath and the particles of powderadhering thereto are removed therefrom by means of a brush. Thesedetached particles preferably. fall into a trough having a series ofequi-spaced funnel-shaped outlets arranged above the winding drum andare thereby deposited upon the paper in spaced parallel strips or zonesas such paper is wound u'pon this drum.- The spacing between the centersof said outlets 'is equal to the length of a nap kinfiller. V

The operation of the dusting mechanism may be either continuous orintermittent. I prefer the intermittent operation in which the powder isapplied only to the inner layers of the napkin as this eliminates dustnuisance and the possibility of the chemical contacting with the personwhen the napkin is used. The intermittent operation may be accomplishedeither manually or autoof my device I have incorporated a countingdevice which is actuated by the winding drum. This device o'ates aswitch to e distributed within the interior of matically and in thepreferred embodiment automatically start and stop the dusting mechanismat predetermined points in the winding operation.

As soon as suflicient plies of crepe paper have been wound upon thedrum, say thirty or forty, the drum is stopped and the cylindricalabsorbent layer removed therefrom by slitting same along a 7 lineextending parallel with the roll axis. The multi-ply layer is then laidout flat and subjected to the action ofa series of circular sawsarranged on a common axis parallel with the drum axisand spaced apart adistance equal tothe length of a filler, which divide it into aplurality of strips each of a width equal to the length of the napkinfiller. These strips have a treated zone runningthrough their center andare subsequently transversely cut into sections which constitute thefillers for the napkins.

The many other objects and advantages of the invention "will be betterunderstood by referenceto the following specification when considered inconnection with the accompanymg drawingsillustrating a selectedembodiment thereof, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partially insec-' 1 tion, of a" dustingmachine embodying the- 'principlesof ininvention.

Fig. v.l'is a ront elevation, partially in' section, of the machineshown in Fig. 1.

' Fig. 3' is an enlarged vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.Fig. 4 is a vertical section onthe line 4-4.-

' of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of a portion of the operating mechanism.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of a modified form of controlmechanism.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the fillers, showing the treatedzone.

Referrin to the drawings, the paper as delivered rom the paper-makingmachine is wound upon a large drum 9 on the shaft 10 preferably directlydriven by such machine. Above this drum and extending longitudinallythereof is achopper 11 open at the top to receive a supply of the powderwhich is to be applied to the napkins. This hopper is supported by asuitable frame as 12 and an agitator 13 is preferably incorporated inthe hopper. In the present embodiment this agitator comprises arevoluble shaft 1% to which, at regular intervals, are securedpermanently in mesh with a gear 3% fared radially projecting pins as 15.

Beneath the hopper is located a rotary transfer drum as 16 whichpreferably has its periphery covered with a material such as felt. Thehopper is open at the bottom as at 17 so that the powder will bedeposited on the drum 16. An adjustable extension plate 18 is preferablysecured to the base of the hopper and its lower edge contacts with theperiphery of the drum 16 to scrape superfluous powder therefrom..Clamping bolts 19 pass through slots 20 in this plate to enable theplate to be set in the proper position. A similar plate 8 is mounted onthe hopper on the op osite side of the discharge opening 17 from t eplate 18. This plate 8 is normally yieldingly pressed against theperiphery of the drum by springs as 21. Bolts 22 pass through slots 23in this plate to secure the same to the hopper wall but these boltspreferably permit free up and down movement of the plate at all times. i

A brush 24 having bristles preferably of wire is mounted on the frame sothat the outer extremities of the bristles contact with the periphery ofthe drum 16 in the manner indicated in Fig. 3. This brush preferablyextends the entire length of the drum and acts to dislodge the adherentparticles of powder as the drum rotates- These particles drop into atrough 25 located beneath the drum. The base portion of this trough ispseferably formed in the shape of a series of nnels 26 arranged in a rowin the manner indicated in Fig. 2 Each of these funnels is provided witha discharge opening as 27. These discharge openings are preferably sospaced that the powder will be deposited on the paper being wound on thedrum 9 in a series of narrow parallel strips. In order that the reasonfor this may be fully understood, I have indicated by dot and dash linesas 28 (F-i 2) the trace of the saw cuts to be made in t e sheet afterthe winding has been completed and the sheet severed from the drum inthe manner described. It will be noted that each opening 27 is disposedabove the center of the corresponding strip 29. In this way the centralportion of the strip will receive powder when the dustin mechanism isoperating but no powder will e deposited upon the outer or edge portionsof the strip. In the manufacture of napkin fillers, I prefer to make thestrips 29 about nine inches and the treated zone about four inches wide,leaving an untreated zone or strip of about 2% inches on'ea-ch side oredge.

The dusting mechanism is driven from a shaft (not shown) of thepaper-making machine by means of a chain 30 and sprocket 31, thesprocket being revoluble upon a stud shaft'32 mounted in the frame. Apinion 33 is secured to the hub of this sprocket and is upon the outerend of the shaft 14" connected to the agitator shaft 14.

A clutch member 36 is splined upon the shaft 14 and this member isyieldin'gly held by a spring 37 from the co-operating clutch member 39formed on the hub of a pinion 40 free upon the same shaft. In order topermit automatic operation of this clutch, I have provided a countingdevice 41 on the shaft of the drum 9 which operates a switch 42 in anelectric circuit including a solenoid 43 controlling the clutch lever43. The pinion 40 is permanently in mesh with a gear 44 fixed upon theshaft 44 on which is secured the drum 16. This drum will be 0 erated tocause powder to be deposited on t e paper being wound on the drum 9 onlywhen the clutch members are in engagement. The counting or timing deviceis preferably designed to cause the clutch to remain out of engagementwhile a predetermined number of plies of paper are wound on the drum, topermit the clutch to be engaged for a predetermined number ofrevolutions of the drum, and then to release the clutch to preventfurther application of powder while the remaining plies are wound. Inthe present embodiment this timing device comprises a star-wheel 45which is advanced one tooth space for each revolution of the windingdrum shaft 10, said shaft'lO being fitted with.

a dog or finger 45 which, when rotating,

engages the teeth 45 of the star-wheel. On

broken, the spring 37 pulls the clutch member 36 out of engagement withthe member 37. The drum 16 then ceases to turn.

In order to prevent the powder adhering to the sides of the trough 25and forming into lumps, a vibrating device as 47 may be attached to thistrough. This device in the present embodiment comprises a small electricmotor 48 having a one-toothed cam 49 attached to its shaft 50 to imparta vibrating motion to a short lever 51 held against it by a spring 52.This vibrating motion is transmitted to the trough by the contact of thelever against the side.

Obviously, owing to the impossibility of stopping the paper machine, itis desirable to make as few stoppages of the paper drum as possible whenstripping the layers. Therefore, in practice, I prefer to build up aplurality in this instance three) of layers of filler on the windingdrum 9 before stopping the winding process. Hence, waste is minimized.To facilitate separation of the individual napkin layers, I may insert asingle sheet of colored paper as at 9* after the completion oat eachlayer-cycle.

In Fig. 6 of the drawing is illustrated a modified form of controlmechanism for the clutch member 54, corresponding to the member 36 ofthe previousembodiment, and this may be substltuted for the solenoidcontrol previously described. In this mechanism a control lever 55 isfulcrumed on the frame at 56 and connected to the member 54 at 57 "inthe usual manner. A spring 58, connecting the lever with the frame,normally retains the clutch members in engagement. The control lever maybe shifted either manually or automatically to disengage the members.

The described details of construction and arrangement being merelyillustrative of a single phase of my invention, the scope of the sameshould be determined by reference to the appended claims, said claims tobe construed as broadly as possible consistent with the state of theart.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of making sanitary napkin fillers which consists inwinding a strip of filler material on a drum to form a multiply layerthereon, chemically treating a circumferential zone on one of said pliesof less width than the width of said strip and transversely cutting saidmulti-ply layer into strips of the desired width so as .to form arelatively long but narrow filler having a treated zone extending acrossits width but. shorter than the length of the filler.

2. The method of making sanitary napkin fillers which consists inwlnding a sheet of filler material on a drum to form a multi-ply layerthereon, chemically treating a plurality of spaced circumferential zonesof predetermined width on one of the plies, cutting said multi-ply layerinto sections each of which includes a circumferentially treated zoneand transversely cutting said sections into filler strips of the desiredwidth.

3. The improvement in the art of making sanitary napkin fillers whichconsists in winding a strip of absorbent material upon a drum,sprinkling a chemical upon axially separated circumferential zones ofthe material during the winding operation and subsequently sub-dividingthe material into multily filler strips, each including a portion 0 oneof said zones.

4. The improvement in the art of making sanitary napkin fillers whichconsists in winding a strip of absorbent material upon a drum,sprinkling a chemical upon said material in separated, parallel,circumferentially extending zones spaced according to the length offiller desired, and subsequently slitting the material between saidzones to form multi-ply pad strips, each including one of said zones,and of width equal to the length of filler desired.

5. Apparatus for making a chemically treated multi-ply absorbent padwhich comprises a drum, means for rotating said drum to wind thereon insuccessive convolutions an absorbent sheet of which the pad is to beformed, and mechanism for automatically chemically treating apre-determined portion of the whole number of convolutions during theWinding operation,

6. Apparatus for making a chemically treatedmulti-ply absorbent padwhich comprises a drum, means for rotating said drum to Wind thereon insuccessive convolutions an absorbent sheet of which the pad is to beformed, mechanism for chemically treating certain of said convolutionsduring the winding process, and means for automatically starting andstopping the operation of said mechanism.

7. Apparatus for making a chemically treated multi-ply absorbent padwhich comprises a drum, means for rotating said drum to Wind thereon insuccessive convolutions an absorbent sheet of which the pad is to beformed, and automatically operated mechanism for sprinkling a chemicalupon separated zones of certain of said convolutions during the windingprocess.

8. Apparatus for making a chemically treated multi-ply absorbent padwhich comprises a drum, means for rotating said drum to wind thereon insuccessive convolutions an absorbent sheet of which the pad is to beformed, -and automatically operated mechanism for sprinkling a chemicalin powder form upon separated, parallel, circumferentially extendedzones of certain of said convolutions during the winding process.

9. Apparatus for making a chemically treated multi-ply absorbent padwhich comprises a drum, means for rotating said drum to wind thereon insuccessive convolutions an absorbent sheet of which the pad is to beformed, mechanism for chemically treating certain of said convolutionsduring the winding operation, and means for automatically actuating saidmechanism in timed relation withsaid drum.

ERNST MAHLER.

